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Tuesday, September 15, 2009

So today I felt like reading a minor prophet during lunch, and settled on Habakkuk. So here's what I picked up on...

The nation of Judah is about to get pounced on by the Babylonians in judgement for turning to idols. Habakkuk questions God, asking how long He will let evil go unpunished, and why he will use the wicked (Babylonians) to punish a more righteous people? This struck me as similar to the way Job spoke to God. These are men of the Bible who were considered righteous and apparently had a close relationship with God. Is this something we should hope to attain? A relationship with God that is so close and real that we can talk to him like a brother?

I like that God doesn't drop the hammer on Habakkuk as hard as he did with Job. Instead, he gently but firmly reminds Habakkuk that He will bring judgement in His own timing, and that we are to wait for it and live by faith and trust Him. At the end of His response to Habakkuk, God says, "the Lord is in His holy temple. Let all the earth be silent before Him." God is Holy. He is in control. He rules. We are to be silent. Humility and reverence seem to be the proper frame of mind to keep.

Habakkuk responds with praise and worship and reverence. He ends by saying that regardless of circumstances, even when there is loss and seeming lack of provision, "Yet I will exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation." (3:28)